Former Wirth Cos. executive gets probation for cheating IRS

Paul W. Fox, a former top executive of Wirth Cos., was sentenced to three years of probation, 300 hours of community service and ordered to pay $35,536 in restitution to the IRS, the Star Tribune reports. Fox pleaded guilty last December to filing a false income tax return and wage report. Twin Cities hotel developer Jeffrey Wirth was sentenced to 54 months behind bars in September and ordered to pay almost $6.5 million to the IRS for tax evasion.

Paul W. Fox, a former top executive of Wirth Cos., was sentenced to three years of probation, 300 hours of community service and ordered to pay $35,536 in restitution to the IRS, the Star Tribune reports. Fox pleaded guilty last December to filing a false income tax return and wage report.

Jeffrey Wirth of Plymouth will spend 54 months behind bars for tax evasion and ordered to pay almost $6.5 million to the IRS, the Pioneer Press reports. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to evade millions of dollars in federal taxes in May.

The Lakeville man convicted of abandoning his 11-year-old son last summer was sentenced to probation up to two years Wednesday and must pay more than $2,500 in restitution. A Dakota County jury found 60-year-old Steven Cross guilty of neglect, a gross misdemeanor, for leaving his son and fleeing to California in July of 2011. If Cross violates his probation, KARE 11 reports he could be sent to jail for a year.